Flash memory and the Connected Home

The smart device market is growing rapidly, particularly in the home where smart meters, thermostats, in-home displays and appliances are becoming more popular. In fact, within the next five years, the amount of smart home energy management devices shipped globally will reach 400 million units (IMS Research).

The rapid growth is, in part, driven by consumer demand for total connectivity and higher expectations for user experience. But consumer demand is only a portion of the story – the rest is more technical. In recent years, intelligence, connectivity and the user interface have come together to make smart home devices more efficient, cost effective and adaptable to consumer preferences.

If you look more closely, it’s the advances in embedded systems and Flash memory technology that have been the driving force behind device innovation and increased convergence. As the demand increases for smarter devices equipped with much better graphics and instant-on capabilities, Flash memory is becoming more critical to the connected home and smart energy sectors.

When it comes down to it, memory is what makes a device smart. Without memory, a system cannot store the data needed for a device to “learn” from its user, or power the advanced user interface that consumers demand.

High-density Flash memory supports the large OS images, applications and graphics required to elevate the human machine interaction (HMI). Additionally, the ruggedness and longevity of high-quality Flash components are vital for providing the connectivity and durability needed to improve home energy management within the residential market. The smart connected home would not be possible without innovative memory solutions, which means dependence on NOR and NAND Flash memory technology will grow even more rapidly as we move toward the home of the future.

Figure 1: NOR and SLC NAND Flash memory are found in devices throughout the home.

Smart Thermostats
In recent years, we’ve grown accustomed to the evolved user interface we experience with our smartphones, tablets, even our dashboard – so why not expect the same from your thermostat? As the UI transforms into a sophisticated information hub, the embedded systems powering the technology need more complex software and more persistent storage of information. This is where NOR Flash is making a big difference, providing the high-density Flash memory to support large OS images, applications and graphics needed to elevate the human machine interaction (HMI) .

Figure 2: Vybrid VFx products use up to two Spansion Quad SPI Flash devices as graphics storage or code storage for a max of 160MB/Second.

NOR Flash is ideal for these high-demand environments. Its instant-on performance is vital for driving fast boot time requirements as well as providing higher performance memory and processing power for sophisticated software and graphics, while reducing (or in some cases eliminating) the dependency for discrete DRAM. NOR Flash also delivers the real-time feedback and high reliability required for the increasingly complex UI. Flash memory also enables the communication functionality, which is a relatively new function of smart thermostats, which provides homeowners with the ability to control these devices remotely with their iPhone or other device.